The four-piece jizue has been a signature piece of Japan’s rich independent music scene since their early days. Blending jazz and post-rock into a sound that’s uniquely there’s, you always know jizue when you hear them. They just announced their newest album “Gallery” which will come out July 3 courtesy of Victor Entertainment. There’s a unique pitch to this album; every member of the four piece band have produced two songs each for this eight-track album. ‘Gallery’ is jizue’s first concept album and first to feature this unique production style. The only snippet released so far is of “PDA” which faintly features in this CM for the Kyoto Shimbun.
Here’s the song and production breakdown of jizue’s ‘Gallery’. Guitarist Noriyuki Inoue produced the already previewed “P.D.A” and W. Bassist Go Yamada is bringing “river” and “different Christmas” to the table. The band’s melodic pianist Kie Katagi is responsible for “junction” and “ariake”. Last but not least, the drummer Shin Kokawa is contributing “rage against the music” and “ambivalenz” to this ambitious project. When these four come together, they never fail to create beautiful music. I’m excited to see how the band member’s individuals tastes will make this album a distinct one.
jizue’s received critical acclaim since their self-titled five-track release in 2009. Each new album of theirs has brought new fans into the fold, although they typically enjoyed more by the music otaku type than anime people. However, otaku culture at large will be exposed to them later this year as they’re scoring October’s Hoshiai no Sora tennis anime. I’ve been using the term post-rock but I’m using it as a bit of an umbrella turn. Their beautiful music ranges from jazz to math-rock to even classical inspiration at times; they’ve really carved out a unique sound for themselves.
jizue’s ‘Gallery’ will release on July 3, with further information available via the band’s official website.